The Year that Never Was
by vertigoSWAY
Summary: ...Torchwood style. AU. What if the Torchwood team ended up aboard the Valiant? This fic explores that possibility. Sequel soon!
1. My Prisoners

**Just as a heads up: This is set in AU. End of Days never happened and the consequences of opening the Rift in Captain Jack Harkness weren't that severe. Basically, Jack just left. If you think there are any other contradictions... then whatever floats your boat. I wrote this as an early TW fan who hadn't seen all the episodes (in order) yet.**

* * *

The Hub was a complete and utter mess. Papers were scattered everywhere. Dust lined the computer screens. There were even coffee stains on papers with the mugs still sticky from their last use. It wasn't always like this, thought Gwen. One year ago, they had Jack. Funny man he was. Couldn't die, even with a bullet in his head. Only Gwen knew of his immortality though and she had promised to keep it secret.

Eleven months ago, they came back from their expedition to the Himalayas. Three weeks before that, Jack had gone missing along with the hand in the jar. The rest of Torchwood never knew why that hand was so important. It was just a hand, wasn't it? Knowing Jack though, that might not be the case.

They wanted Jack back. They all wanted him back. Things just weren't the same without him. They needed someone to keep them line. They needed someone to guide them. Without Captain Jack Harkness, they were just about bunch of good-for-nothing people running in circles with guns.

Gwen looked over at Owen who was taping a rhythm against the wall. Ianto was making coffee and Toshiko was-

"Come look at this," Tosh told the team. Everyone crowded around her and her computer. "Encrypted channel. It's some sort of video, but the server is Ark Angel. We don't even have that."

That much was true. Torchwood ran off an individually constructed server. It had been installed there since the Internet had been invented. The Torchwood server.

At the mention of Ark Angel, the four agents raged silently. That's where it hand all started. Ark Angel and Harold Saxon. Saxon had sent them on a wild goose chase to Nepal and they'd found nothing. Their flight was delayed for a week because of the weather and when they got back, nothing was the same.

Tosh looked at Gwen who was acting leader of Torchwood Cardiff as long as Jack was absent. The team started to think of her as the real captain, having lost hope that Jack would come back. "Let's see what it is," Gwen said, trusting her voice not to break.

A screen popped and the face of the last person any four of them wanted to see filled the video. "Hello Torchwood. How was Nepal? Oh wow, this is good. Rich, or as the Doctor would say, brilliant!"

"Saxon," Gwen muttered under her breath.

"The Doctor. You know him right? I think your Captain Jack talks about him a lot." The camera angle shifted to and old man sitting in a wheelchair. Then Saxon's pitiful face filled the screen once more. "Yep, that's the Doctor alright," Saxon smiled. "Mind you, he wasn't always like that. Used look a lot younger. Of course, that's what happens when you plot against me. Hope you can learn from the past, or present… or even future. Guess it just depends on what race you are. Poor Doctor over here travels through time and he never learns!" Harold Saxon laughed teasingly.

"Do, I _pray_, learn from the mistakes of your _superiors_," Saxon continued from onboard the _Valiant_. His voice was dripping with sarcasm and Torchwood was so close to blowing him out of the sky. "I mean, what's worse the not learning from your own mistakes than seeing someone else screw up and walking down that same path. Isn't that right Lucy dear?" Saxon turned and looked at someone off screen and gave a smile before directing his attention back to the camera.

"You _do _have a superior right?" Saxon asked. Tosh, Owen, Gwen and Ianto could tell that the so-called Prime Minister was trying to intimidate them. "Captain Jack Harkness. Disappeared and left the kids to take care of themselves, yeah? Captain Jack…" sighed Saxon. "Captain, Captain Jack. He is _such_ a nuisance did you know? He never shuts up! And then, when I actually _want_ him to talk, he doesn't! On top of that, he just refuses to shut up _and_ die."

Although the last statement made no sense, the four Torchwood agents stared intently at the image of the Prime Minister's eyes. The way he had said all that, it seemed as if he knew where Jack was or worse… Jack was his prisoner. "Bastard," Gwen spat at the screen, not expecting Saxon to hear her. "What's he done with Jack?!" The question was more directed to the rest of her team than to Harold Saxon himself.

"Oh, now that's the right question to ask," Saxon replied, moving away from the camera and to a set of small stairs. Torchwood was taken aback. He could hear them? "Oh yeah. I can hear you all right," he said, as if reading their minds. "Bugged the place a little less than a year back when you were adventuring in Nepal. How was it again?"

"You bastard. What have you done with Jack?" Gwen demanded.

"Excuse me," Saxon said, pretending to be hurt. "You're talking to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom here. Did your captain not teach you any respect at all?"

"Why show respect to someone who has devastated the world?" Ianto argued calmly.

"More like universe," Tosh murmured. "He's almost war-bent."

"Now why would I want that?" Harold Saxon asked. "Don't you hear the drums?" The man began to tap on the edge of the stairs. "They're getting louder and louder. The sound of drums. Like war."

"OK, now he's just psychotic," Owen pointed briefly, before returning his hand to his chin.

"Again rude." Saxon shook his head in mock sadness. "I thought you could learn from your superiors. Such a shame. Did you know? When you were in Nepal, I also planted a teleport field around your precious underground Hub?" The Torchwood team stepped back from the screen in time to see a film of white light surround them, only to be replaced with the _Valiant_.

"Well hello," Saxon greeted. At once, Tosh, Owen, Gwen and Ianto drew their guns. Saxon rolled his eyes. "Guns can't kill me." Still, Torchwood aimed at their rogue Prime Minister. "Pointing a gun at the Prime Minister? I can have you shot for treason!"

"What have you done with Jack?" Gwen asked, her voice uncontrollably venomous.

"Why? What are you going to do to me?" Saxon countered.

"Kill you and throw your body to the Weevils," Owen answered.

"A little too graphic Owen," Tosh warned softly.

"But I can't die," Saxon explained, as if it should have been obvious. This caught Gwen by surprise. Was this man like Jack? Immortal?

"Don't be ridiculous," Tosh laughed. "Everybody dies."

"Well not everybody."

"You can't kill him," a woman's voice came from behind them. "At least not yet." Torchwood turned around and found Francine Jones, huddled in the corner.

"You're helping him?" Gwen asked. "After all this man's done and you're _serving_ him?"

"They don't have a choice," Saxon explained. "Life or death. The things you humans do to survive. You degenerate little beings."

"You're not human?" Ianto asked.

"Bingo!" Saxon declared. "Took you long enough. You think a petty little _human_ could come up with a grand scheme like this?"

"Then what are you Harold Saxon?" Gwen demanded. "If that is even your name."

"I'd say you're clever for figuring that out, but honestly, the human race _clever_?"

"Who are you and what have you done to Jack?"

"Me? I'm the Master. I'm a Time Lord. And you are my prisoners."

* * *

**The Torchwood side of things, just because I wanted to open up Jack a bit more. He's too kept-to-himself.  
Published under Torchwood for more hits. xD**

**Disclaimer: In no way do I own Torchwood. Credits go to BBC and all associates.**


	2. The Man Who Can't Die

It wasn't a nice prospect, being the prisoners of a psychopathic man who really wasn't a man. A Time Lord, that's what the Master called himself. Lord over time? Was there such a race that could control such a power? No wonder the Earth was doomed from the start. Such a man, with such a power and _such_ a twisted mind.

The cuffs were extremely uncomfortable. The Master had decided to give his new "guests" a warm welcome and had their hands tied behind their back with twine. The cuffs were so tight that their circulation was cut off and they could barely feel their hands. "Where are you taking us?" Gwen demanded, but she was met with silence.

Four armed soldiers with the Master trailing behind them, escorted what remained of Torchwood Cardiff to a steamy cell. By the looks of it, the walls were piping and wiring, fit for an advanced ship like the _Valiant_. Martha Jones's father Clive could be seen mopping the floor.

There was a fence in front of them. As Gwen and her team approached it, the Master motioned and the guard opened it. There was a man in the distance, chained to the walls. His head was bent and he was looking at the ground. He looked defeated and the Torchwood agents pitied him.

"Hallo Tish," the man said, mimicking a British accent. He still stared at the floor. "Back so quick? You just-" The man looked up and eyed the new prisoners, with the Master stepping out from behind them. That wasn't Tish. None of them were. "Oh my God…" he whispered.

Tosh, Owen, Gwen and Ianto's eyes went wide. "Jack!" Gwen whispered. His appearance shocked them all. His hair was a mess. His face was muddied and sweat trickled down his cheeks. His usual attire had disappeared and the white shirt he now wore looked burnt, as if a laser had been shot at him hundreds of times. There were fresh bullet marks on his shirt as well, as if he'd just been shot hundreds of times. His wrists, chained to the wall, looked covered in dry blood. His own blood.

"Oh my God, Jack…" Ianto whispered.

"What do you want Master?" Jack spat, his temper getting the better of them "Leave them out of this. They didn't do anything! They never plotted against you. They-"

The Master rolled his eyes and took out his laser screwdriver. With a quick aim, he silenced Jack. Toshiko gave out a piercing scream as the laser shot straight at the captain's heart. She leaned her head on Owen's who tried to console her through his own devastation. There was a prick at Ianto's heart but Gwen merely stared. She knew what would happen next, but what was silencing her was the pure rage the Master would have the nerve to add another burn to Jack's shirt. So this is what had happened in the year the Jack had gone missing. He had been chained to this God forsaken place as a prisoner, tortured and killed repeatedly.

"Such a pity though," the Master said. "He doesn't shut up for long. But the good thing is I get to kill him again!"

"What do you mean kill him again?" Tosh cried. "You just murdered him in cold blood!"

The Master's face turned into one of surprise. He hadn't expected this, and he was prepared for everything! Had the Captain not told his team of his "condition," so to speak? "He never told you?" thought the Master out loud.

"Told us what?" Owen replied curtly.

"You just spoiled it!" the Master pouted. "All this time I was having so much fun killing him and I can't even see you feel pity for the pain he's been suffering for the last year!" The Master's face was one of disappointment.

"You really are psychotic," Owen muttered.

The Master pointed his screwdriver at the medic threateningly. "One more word out of you and I'll-"

Suddenly, there came a loud gasp for air. The Master turned around and saw his prisoner panting from where he was being chained. "Oh my God…" Owen breathed. The rest of the team, with the exception of Gwen, was utterly astounded as well. This was impossible. They had all seen it. Just a minute ago, they had all seen that orange light land itself on their leader. They had all seen him take his last breath and die. There was no way he could be alive. Moreover, there was no way he could bring himself back to life. Such a thing didn't exist.

"Did you have a good time visiting Death, Captain?" taunted the Master. "How was it this time?" The twisted Time Lord slowly approached the immortal man.

Jack tried to avoid the wide-eyed stares his team was giving him. "What do you want with them?"

"It's not what I want with them; it's what I want with you," the Master replied darkly.

"You can do anything to me; just leave them out of this."

"Where's the fun in that?" the Master asked, pacing around on the floor. The guards were still restraining the other four. "You forget Captain Jack Harkness, you're the one chained to the wall." The Master turned around and held his arms out wide. "Torchwood," he declared, "I give you your captain. The man who can never die."

The Time Lord motioned at the guards as he exited. "Cut their restraints and keep them in. If any one of them attempts to escape or revolt, shoot them dead."


	3. How to Kill an Immortal Man

There was an eerie silence in the room. Jack's team was still a little shocked from his sudden resurrection. The captain himself found it unfitting to discuss his problem at the moment as well. Only Gwen seemed more at ease. "Are you alright?" she asked Jack as soon as the Master had left. Immediately, she followed with, "Oh. Sorry. Stupid question."

"I'm alright," Jack smiled feebly.

"It's horrible," Gwen lamented. "Is that what he's been doing to you all this time?" Gwen touched the blood incrusted on Jack's wrist.

"Could be worse," Jack replied.

"How?" Jack didn't answer to that.

"OK then," Owen said, standing up. "I think you've got some explaining to do." Gwen stepped to the side and allowed the medic to approach his boss.

"I can't die," the captain replied stoically.

"Yeah. We got that part. I'm not sure I can believe that yet."

"You saw him," Gwen supplied.

"Yeah, but that kind of thing is just impossible!" Owen declared. He rubbed his wrists to get his blood flowing again. "No one dies and comes back to life!"

"The Resurrection Gauntlet," Jack countered.

"Risen Mitten," Ianto whispered quietly.

"And a fat lot of good that was," Owen commented. Jack nodded in agreement. "So what is it?" Owen pressed.

Jack took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm a fixed point in time in space. At least, that's what the Doctor says."

"The Doctor?" Tosh repeated. "You mean that old man out there?"

"Trust me. He looks a hell of a lot younger than that on most days."

"Is that the Doctor you've always been talking about Jack?" Gwen questioned. "'The right kind of doctor?'"

"That's him and to tell you the truth, I did die once."

"What happened?" Tosh asked.

"It's a long story."

"We're prisoners," Ianto smirked. "We have a lot of time."

* * *

Jack spun his tale of his adventures with the Doctor and his subsequent death, along with his history in Torchwood. After so long, his team actually felt like they knew him. Knew his past. "I'm from the future," he began. "51st century Time Agency. It's like the time police and-"

"Year 5000?" Owen inquired.

"Yep. I woke up one day. Found they'd taken two years of my life. For all I know, I could have been some homicidal maniac." Jack laughed a bit. "I took one of the ships and hid out in World War II London in the midst of the Blitz, working as a con-man, and that's when I met the Doctor and his companion Rose.

"I sent this Chula ambulance out into the time vortex, because I thought they were Time Agents. I was going to lure them here, con them, get the money and just destroy the ambulance only, I screwed up. Half the city started to turn into these gas mask-like creatures."

"Why?" Ianto asked.

"Shame you won't be around to see it, but by 5000, humans would have discovered these neat little things called nanogenes. They're basically what they call them. Little subatomic particles that replicated your DNA and fix anything. I _thought_ the ship was empty. Turns out there were enough nanogenes in there to build an entire species. They went around and found the first thing that they could heal and what did they find? A little boy who'd died with a gas mask on. Unlike the other nanogenes though, these hadn't been programmed with what the basic human looked like. They thought the boy was normal and went around fixing everybody up.

"But the Doctor fixed it all. Happy end right? Well tough because the next thing that happened… well almost the next thing. Had a bit of a run in with a Slitheen in Cardiff. _Not_ a pleasant thing."

"That earthquake, a year back? That was you?" inquired Owen.

"-ish. After that though, the Doctor, Rose and I, we all got pulled into this satellite in the future called the GameStation. Just our luck, because the Earth was about to be invaded by Daleks. God were they annoying!

"They targeted the station because the Doctor was there. Their greatest enemy. The only thing that they were afraid of."

"Why?" came another question. This time from Gwen.

"There was a war. The Time War between the Doctor's people and the Daleks."

"The Doctor's an alien?"

"Mind you he's a Time Lord as well."

"But the Mas-"

"Yeah well, Gallifrey wasn't as perfect as the legends say. Anyway, the last thing I can remember on that ship were three Daleks heading my way. Death by extermination. They don't stop until they kill and I was right there for them. And… I died. Honestly."

"So how did you come back?" Tosh asked.

"The Doctor, he's got this time machine called the TARDIS. He sent Rose back to Earth. Didn't want her hurt. The GameStation was doomed but the least we could do was stopping the Daleks from getting to Earth, even if it cost us our lives. So he sent her back, but good old Rose. She refused to let us die. She came back. Absorbed the Heart of the TARDIS, and essentially a part of the time vortex, just to get back to us and save the day. By then I was already dead, but she destroyed the entire fleet with that power. She brought me back. She couldn't control it and brought me back forever."

"And now you can't die?" Ianto prompted.

"Yep, that's me."

"Wait a minute," Tosh said, suddenly realizing. "That girl… when Gwen first joined. The one with the sex gas. When we found her in the middle of that room, she was going to die and then you kissed her and she glowed. What was that?"

"My life force. Part of the time vortex. Basically, I revitalized her."

"And when Li-" Owen stopped in midsentence after a quick glance at Ianto. "When you were shocked twice in a row," the medic corrected.

"Killed me," Jack said. "Told you I was stubborn."

"But what's happening?" Tosh asked. "One year ago you just disappeared. You never came back. And that mission to the Himalayas. What was that all about?"

"I found the Doctor just outside the lift to the Hub, but the TARDIS reacted against me and went to the end of the universe just to get rid of me. All the way to 100 trillion."

"The Earth survives until then?" Owen asked, amazed.

"Don't be daft. Of course not! The Earth gets consumed by the sun at 5 million years, but humans find other planets and relocate."

"And Saxon?" Gwen asked.

"He found him at the end of the universe, but he was human. Old, white hair and wrinkles. Called himself the Professor, because that's honestly what he thought he was. There's this thing that rewrites biology. The Doctor says it changes a Time Lord into a human and when that happens, you don't remember that you were a Time Lord at all.

"So there we were, trying to defend what was left of the human race and he goes and opens his watch of memories. He changes back into a Time Lord, steals the TARDIS and regenerates into Saxon. He comes back here to wreak havoc."

"Shouldn't the Doctor have noticed?" questioned one of the group members.

"Yeah sure, except he never made himself public. That's the Ark Angel network. 15 satellites, connecting everyone's phones. Reliable right? That's what everyone thought at first, but no. We found the code hidden in the signal. Ark Angel's actually this telepathic field binding the whole world together. Who voted for Saxon?"

Guiltily, every person in Jack's team raised their hands feebly. The captain only laughed. "That's Ark Angel, whispering to you. That code in the phones. Compels you to trust him. _That's_ how he won the election. Cheating."

"No badmouthing!" one of the guards outside the fence door shouted.

"What are you going to do?" Jack challenged. "Kill me?" With that the guard silenced himself.

"And the Himalayas?"Ianto asked.

"The Master knew that the Doctor, Martha and I would come back. That's the Doctor's new companion. Martha."

"What happened to that Rose girl?" Tosh asked.

"Gone," Jack replied sadly. He bit his lip and explained. "Canary Wharf, when Torchwood One was destroyed. Remember the Cybermen? Lisa? Remember the ghosts? That was then. Did I ever tell you the Doctor hates us? He hates Torchwood _so_ much."

"How come?"

"He's Torchwood enemy number one," Ianto recalled. "Read it in a file long ago."

"Someone's done their homework," complimented Jack. "But that information's false. At Canary Wharf, everything was just getting too out of hand. Two parallel worlds were colliding with each other. Now there's this thing called the Void in the middle. Basically this empty space in between worlds. The Doctor was going to force the Cybermen back in that space. Open the ghost shield and _vwooop._ They all get sucked in. Rose's family stayed on the other side. It was safer there but Rose refused to leave the Doctor. She stayed, helped him open up to the Void but she was sucked in as well. All I know is that she made it to the other side. She's safe but trapped. How about that?"

There were a few moments of silence before Ianto pressed, "Himalayas?"

"Right! So the Master knew we'd come back here to try and find him. He sent you lot off on some wild goose chase to isolate the three of us here. Three people not that much of a threat as seven."

"But why are we here?" Gwen asked. "Like you said, like _we_ said, we didn't do anything. On top of that, we couldn't really do anything. So why are we here?" he reiterated.

"Which proves my point. The guy's a psychopath," Owen explained.

"No," Jack interjected bleakly. "That's not why."

"Then what else?" Tosh asked.

"You don't want to know why."

"Maybe not Jack," Gwen agreed. "But we deserve that much."

"To break me," Jack told them. "He's getting bored with killing me every day. He knows that it's no use to point a laser and shoot at me whenever he pleases. The only reason he brought you here is to break me. He's going to torture each and every one of you and kill you… and he'll force me to watch."


	4. I Forgive You

The Master loved his little dominion. Earth. What a pathetic planet. Level 5 according the Galactic Law. Level 5! And people here. Pathetic as well. Degenerate. Primitive. But so fun to torture! Oh, he was in heaven, if Time Lords even believed in that sort of thing. "Captain Jack thinks he can survive all this?" the Master thought out loud. "But I've found the perfect way to kill a man who can't die!" The Master cast a glance at Lucy whilst fiddling with his laser screwdriver. "What do you think darling?" Lucy opened her mouth to speak. "Charming isn't it?" the Master cut off. Lucy merely smiled.

"And Doctor! How is it? Having Torchwood so close to you? Does it bring back memories? Of a companion who could absorb the time vortex? Oh yes, I know all about that," grinned the Master. "What have you to say now?"

"You know what I have to say," the Doctor replied.

"Then say it!"

"Are you sure?" the Doctor asked, challenging him.

"Is that a challenge Doctor? In just a short period of time, this planet will be mine! Shame you defied me Doctor. We could have shared it!"

"Already have high hopes," the Doctor muttered.

"But there's no one to stop me!" the Master cackled. "Your freak is locked up along with his alien fighting buddies and Martha? I'd give her credit if she was still alive in a cave! Honestly Doctor, why cling to false hope? You've been affiliating with these beings for far too long. Mark my words Doctor. A new Gallifrey will begin!"

The Doctor said nothing. There was a time and place for everything.

* * *

Jack's team tried to laugh and tell jokes, but they were all too shaken about Jack's prediction. Part of them believed him and part of them didn't. They hoped it wasn't true, but Jack was sure that deep down they knew it would eventually come to that. What scared them the most was not the fear of dying. It was the fear of Jack not being able to die after this hell was over. Having to lose the game every single time because he had the cheat codes.

Just then, Tish came in with Jack's food. "I don't want it," Jack told her. Tish tapped the edge of the tray impatiently, but Jack knew it wasn't out of boredom. Morse code. Tish had often used it to talk to her sister when they were kids. Of course, she was never very proficient but she knew enough to tap out Martha. Jack winked in understanding and returned to his façade. "I don't want it," he said again.

Tish turned to the guard who was staring at Jack like he was some sort of hassle. "What is it now?" the guard groaned.

"He doesn't want the food," Tish said.

"I don't really need it and _that_ awful stuff?" Jack winced.

"Whatever," the guard dismissed. "Throw it out. I don't care. He can starve himself to death if he wants."

_If I could_, Jack added silently as Tish left.

Martha. Now what could that possibly be about?

* * *

Ten minutes later, a new pair of guards came in with several soldiers trailing behind them. Jack and his team could tell that they were reluctant to be on board the _Valiant_, but they had to. It was the only way to save themselves. The guards undid Jack's chains and held him at gunpoint. For insurance, the soldiers held the rest of the Torchwood team at gun point.

They led them out to the main room of the _Valiant_ where the Master was grinning triumphantly. At once, Jack saw the figure standing in defeat in front of the sadistic ruler. _Martha_, he thought. No. Not her too.

What shocked the captain even more was the figure in the cage. It was undoubtedly the Doctor. Jack was sure of it, but he was livid. Furious at the Master who dared to wreak such havoc.

"The teleport device," ordered the Master. He stretched his hand out. Reluctantly, Martha tossed Jack's vortex manipulator to the Time Lord. That was when the rest of Torchwood realized Jack didn't have his wrist strap anymore.

"Kneel," the Master commanded. Martha obeyed. The Master went on to brag about his might and plan. He talked and talked, receiving glares from Torchwood, until he started the countdown. Three minutes. 180 seconds.

"At zero, to mark this day," the Master began. "The child, Martha Jones, will die." Jack saw her glance over at the Doctor. "My first blood. Any last words?" Martha simply stared. "No?" The Master laughed. "Days are getting old, Doctor," the Master chastised as he descended the small flight of stairs. He fiddled with his laser screwdriver. "You had companions who could absorb the time vortex!" Jack's memories flashed back to his time aboard the GameStation. "This one's useless!" The Master aimed the laser at Martha. "Bow your head."

Martha obeyed without a word. She hadn't spoken since she was captured. "And so it falls to me, as master of all," declared the Time Lord. "To establish on this day, a new order of Time Lords! From this day forward-" Martha laughed and the Master stopped.

"What?" the Master demanded. "What's so funny?"

Martha looked up, as if she'd been expecting this the whole time. "A gun?" she asked.

"What about it?"

"A gun in four parts?"

"Yes and I destroyed it."

"A gun in four parts, scattered across the world? I mean, _come_ _on_. Did you really believe that?"

The Master smiled, scared for the first time since he regenerated. "What do you mean?"

"As if I would ask her to kill," the Doctor rasped. Jack smiled. The Doctor was in on it too. Maybe everything was going to be alright after all.

"Oh well. It doesn't matter!" cried the Master, trying to comfort himself. "I've got her exactly where I want her!"

"But I know what Professor Docherty would do," Martha explained. "The resistance _knew_ about her son. I told her about the gun so she'd get me here. At the right time."

"But you're _still_ going to die."

"Don't you want to know what I was doing, travelling the world?"

"Tell me," the Master gave in, rolling his eyes.

"I was telling a story, that's all. No weapons. Just words. I did just what the Doctor said. I went across the continents, all on my own, and everywhere I went I found the people and I told them my story. I told them about the Doctor. And I told them to pass it on. To spread the word so everyone would know about the Doctor."

"Faith and hope?" the Master laughed. "Is that all?"

"No," Martha rebuked. She stood up, smiling at the Master. "Because I gave them an instruction. Just as the Doctor said." … _Use the countdown._ "I told them that if everyone thinks of one word, at once specific time-"

"_Nothing_ will happen! Is that you're weapon? _Prayer_?"

Martha continued to smile. "Right across the world! One word, just one thought, at one moment… but with _fifteen_ satellites!"

The Master paused, his Time Lord brain taking a long time to comprehend what had just happened. "What?"

"The Ark Angel network…" Jack realized, earning him a glance from his team.

"A telepathic field, binding the whole human race together," Martha told them triumphantly, "All of them. Every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time. And that word is _Doctor_!"

At that moment, the countdown reached zero. A brilliant light shone from the Doctor. The cage around him disappeared as he floated to the Master who was truly afraid now. All around them, everyone was whispering "Doctor" over and over again. The screens on the _Valiant_ displayed crowds of people, floating out into the streets and shouting the name of their invisible savior.

"Stop this right now!" the Master ordered. "STOP IT! I order you to stop!!!"

"The one thing you can't do," the Doctor started, "is to stop them thinking. Tell me the human race is degenerate now, when they can do _this_!"

"No!" the Master whispered.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor told his fellow Time Lord. "I'm so sorry."

The Master aimed his screwdriver, intending to slaughter everyone in the room but the Doctor had control over the telepathic network. The screwdriver flew out of the Master's hand as the psychotic alien backed up against the wall. "You can't do this! You can't do- IT'S NOT FAIR!"

"And you know what happens now."

"No!" The Master fell to the ground, clawing at the wall.

"You wouldn't listen, because you know what I'm going to say." The Doctor landed in front of the Master and knelt beside him. He wrapped his arms around the Master soothingly. "I forgive you."


	5. Everything to Fear

The Master wouldn't have any of it. "My children…" he whispered. Across the earth's atmosphere, the Toclafane returned, to "protect the paradox."

Suddenly, the Doctor realized the solution to the problem and got up quickly. "Captain!" he cried. "The paradox machine!"

"Tosh, Owen, Gwen, Ianto, with me!" he called. They each grabbed a gun from their guards and ran down the hallways.

"What paradox machine?" Tosh questioned breathlessly.

"The Master stole the Doctor's TARDIS. Changed it into a paradox machine."

"And what's it supposed to do?" Gwen asked.

"Exactly what it sounds like it does. Holds a paradox in place. The Toclafane, they're from the future. 100 trillion from a place fabled as 'Utopia'. They're the last humans, desperate to survive. They'd do anything for that –survival instinct- and the Master's giving them that chance. They come back, destroy the human race. Kill the people but-"

"That means they eliminate themselves," Ianto finished.

"Exactly," the American man confirmed. "Destroy the machine and everything goes back to normal." Jack threw open the door the storage room where the TARDIS was being held. Much Jack's exasperation, three Toclafane were waiting for them.

"Open fire!" ordered the captain.

"We've got six million spheres headed our way!" Martha cried over the intercom.

"Working on it," Jack muttered through gritted teeth. The machine gun fire bounced off the spheres harmlessly. The bullets clattered to the ground as the Toclafane released their spikes.

"Jack, we're going to get slaughtered!" Owen cried.

"Yeah, happens to me all the time," Jack shrugged and headed out. "Just keep shooting!" The Toclafane were obviously more interested in the captain. The circled around him and once, even sliced at his left arm, leaving a deep and nasty gash. Jack just winced and kept on. Carefully, the captain shot at the spheres and quickly shut himself inside the paradox machine. He glanced once at ominous red technology and opened fire. The bullets penetrated the glass and sparks flew.

The _Valiant_ started the shake. Jack leaned himself against the doorway of the TARDIS, watching his wound heal. With the destruction of the paradox, the spheres disappeared and time was reversing. The Doctor had teleported himself and the Master back on board the ship just in time.

Finally the shaking stopped and Jack stumbled out of the TARDIS, coughing violently. His team was staring at his left arm. The gash was gone now. Except for the blood, one would have never known he had been injured. "What?" Jack asked. They continued to stare at his arm. "Come on guys. You can get over the fact that I can't die, but you're still startled that I heal quickly as well? Let's go. We need to get back to Martha and the Doctor."

Torchwood ran down the corridors again, just like the old days. Altogether and safe. For that one moment in time, everything felt right. The door opened just as the Master attempted escape.

"Whoa big fella," Jack taunted. "You don't want to miss the party." Owen cocked his gun. "Stand down Owen. Cuffs." Owen obeyed as a nearby guard handed Jack a pair of metal cuffs. Jack secured them around the Master's wrists.

"I've just cuffed the Prime Minister," Jack laughed, able to make a joke out of all this distress. "So! What do we do with this one?" Jack called to the Doctor.

"We kill him," Martha's father answered.

"We execute him," Tish agreed.

"No!" the Doctor and Jack both objected. The rest of the captain's team eyed their leader skeptically. Here was this man, who had been tortured and killed repeatedly –over and over again- in the past "year that never was," and yet… Yet, he objected to the execution of his torturer.

"That's not the solution," the Doctor told them all solemnly.

"Oh, I think it is." Martha's mother clutched a handgun. Her hands shook as she raised it at the Master. Tosh could see the flicker of fear in Jack's eyes. St. Jack. Forgave and forgot. "Because all those things," reasoned the older woman, "they still happened. I saw them."

The Doctor slowly coaxed Ms. Jones out of shooting, earning silent smirks from the Master. The woman dropped the gun with a clatter and wept into the Doctor's coat. The Master simply enjoyed the moment, smirking at Martha's mother.

"You still haven't answered the question," the Master said. "What happens to me?"

The Doctor let Francine's family take her. "You're my responsibility from now on," he said. "The only Time Lord left in existence."

Jack was taken aback and quickly went to his Time Lord friend's side. "Yeah, but you can't trust him!" he whispered.

"No," the Doctor agreed. "The only safe place for him is the TARDIS."

The Master stared. "You mean you're just going to… keep me?"

The Doctor nodded in response. "If that's what I have to do." The sagacious Time Lord turned to look at Jack and Martha's family. "It's time to change," he sighed. "Maybe… I've been wandering for too long. Now I've got someone to care for."

Suddenly, a devastating shot rang through the bridge of the _Valiant_. Gwen screamed. The Master stumbled back, staring wide-eyed at his wife. Lucy, in her flowing red dress, held a gun. She stared passively at her husband. Jack went up to the woman, as if he was afraid she'd murder everyone else in the room. "Put it down," he cajoled. She let Jack take away the gun, all the while staring at the Master.

"I've got you," the Doctor said, catching the Master's fall.

The Master made a struggle for words as he stared beyond the Doctor's eyes. "Always the women," he laughed.

"I didn't see her," apologized the other Time Lord.

"Dying in your arms," mused the Master. "Happy now?"

"You're not dying. Don't be stupid. It's only a bullet. Just regenerate."

"No," refused the Master.

"One little bullet," the Doctor told him. "Come on."

"I guess you don't know me that well," the Master breathed. "I refuse." His eyes were glazed over.

"Regenerate. Just regenerate. Please. Please!" the Doctor begged. "Just regenerate! Come on!"

"And spend the rest of my life imprisoned with you?"

"But you've got to." The Doctor's voice cracked. "Come on. It can't end like this. You and me, all the things we've done." A tear ran down his cheek. "Axons. Remember the Axons? And the Daleks?" The Doctor recalled the time when the Master was held prisoner and the Doctor had to save him. "We're the only to left," the Doctr wept. "I have no one else. Regenerate!"

"How about that?" The Master attempted to grin. "I win!" The Master tried to breathe, only to feel a shuddering pain spark through his body. "Will it stop Doctor?" he asked painfully. "The drumming… Will it stop?"

Slowly, the dying Time Lord closed his eyes. The Doctor breathed heavily, crying and screaming in protest. And that was when… That was when Gwen, Owen, Ianto and Tosh… That was when they all realized how alike Jack and the Doctor were. That was when they understood why Jack was so stingy about his own past. That was why he tried to distance himself from them. The less they knew, the better he felt. Because... Because they all knew one day, that Jack was going to lose them. Whether it was to Torchwood or to old age, none of them knew. But what they did know was that look in Jack's eyes every single time he sent them out, knowing that it might be the last time he'd ever see them again. Knowing that they might die but he'd walk away unscathed. Knowing that even if they did live a full life, he would never see them again. They had all thought that a man who couldn't die had nothing to fear. Especially not death.

They were wrong.

Death was the only thing an immortal man feared.


	6. Never Going to Leave Again

The Doctor had burnt his old friend's body on an old-fashioned funeral pyre. The logs laid in front him as he held a blazing torch in the other. Slowly, he let the timbers light as he threw the torch at the pyre. The Doctor strolled away, leaving his past behind him.

Now, he was bouncing in and around the TARDIS with Jack piloting it with him. The Torchwood team and Martha were simply spectators to the frenzy. "Destination to Cardiff. Present day. Roald Dahl Plass," the Doctor said, flipping the last lever. The time ship gave a lurch as it sailed through the time vortex.

The TARDIS came to an easy stop as the Cloister Bell stopped ringing. Jack's team simply glanced at the door. "Well go on," Jack told them. Cautiously, they pushed open the door of the police box and saw the Millennium Building.

"Oh my God!" Gwen exclaimed, hugging Tosh. The Doctor smiled, casting a glance at Jack who was beaming as well. The rest of them followed the four out of the TARDIS.

"Um…" Jack started. "You guys go ahead first. I uh…"

"Yeah sure," Gwen cut off. "Come on guys."

"But-" Owen protested.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Come on!" She dragged the medic by the arm and into the invisible life.

"Perception filter," the Doctor nodded as the team disappeared down the lift. "Nice one."

Jack just smiled and leaned against the TARDIS. "I remember when we were here last," he said, looking at Martha.

"Cardiff earthquake?" Martha asked. "You were here too?"

"You know about that?"

"The Doctor mentioned it briefly."

"Yep," the Doctor said, popping the last consonant of the word. "That team Jack. They're alright after all."

"Torchwood's not all about guns blazing anymore." The Doctor gave the captain a skeptical look. "Well not _as_ much."

Martha laughed as her eyes surveyed the people going about their daily business in Cardiff. They acted as if nothing had happened. That year of terror. Gone. Disappeared. Because to them, it didn't. The year had been reversed. The year that never was.

"Time was… Every single person in the world knew your name," Martha reminisced. "Now they've all forgotten you."

"Good. Better that way," the Doctor told them.

"Guess I better be off then," Jack sighed, starting to walk away. The Doctor caught the captain by the arm and held his sonic screwdriver to the ex-time agent's vortex manipulator. "Hey! I need that!"

"Can't have you walking around with a time teleport. Twice. Second time to apologize."

Jack rolled his eyes and started to walk away before turning around to salute the Doctor. The Doctor gave a small salute back. "Ma'am," Jack smiled, winking at Martha. The girl waved. Jack turned around again but stopped short. "But I keep wondering," he said, turning around again. "What about aging? 'Cause I won't die, but I keep getting older. The odd little grey hair, you know? What happens if I live for a million years?"

The Doctor was obviously amused. "I really don't know."

The captain laughed. "Okay. Vanity. Sorry. Can't help it. Used to be a poster boy," he reminisced, "when I was a kind, living in the Boeshane Peninsula. Tiny little place. I was the first ever to be signed up for the Time Agency. They were so proud of me. The Face of Boe, the called me." Jack flashed another smile before saying, "I'll see you," and running off.

He didn't quite understand the murmurs of Martha and the Doctor.

* * *

As the lift descended, Jack could see his team quietly monitoring the rift and doing their jobs. Tosh typed rapidly onto the keyboard, noting an activity spikes since they'd last left. Owen logged a few more victims and symptoms into the online archives while Gwen went downstairs to check the Weevils. Ianto was quietly passing out coffee and cleaning up.

Jack smiled. "We've just survived the end of the world and look at you! Already back to work. Take a break. Go out, have some fun. I'll be fine."

No one tried to pay attention to Jack's words, or the man himself, as he got off the lift. Jack let out a deep sigh and straightened his grey coat. "I'm sorry," he apologized. His team turned around to look at him. "For leaving." He walked a little closer, as if he was afraid of his team.

"You did what you had to do Jack," Gwen said, coming up the stairs from the cells. She draped her jacket nonchalantly over her chair.

"No," Jack said. "I didn't have to. I could have stayed here and not gone after the Doctor."

"Then the whole world would have ended," Tosh deduced out loud.

"I'm sure the Doctor would have figured something out," Jack said.

Ianto flicked a Starbucks cup into the trash bin. "Who bought the Starbucks?" he asked venomously. Owen slouched a bit in his seat.

"Hey!" Jack called. "Am I not even allowed to have a pity party?"

"Nope!" Owen said, biting his pen. He tried to ignore the glares that Ianto was giving him. "You're our leader. No pity parties for you."

"Are you going back to him?" Ianto asked. "To the Doctor?"

Jack looked at the former Torchwood One employee in the eye. "No," he declared. "I've had a lot of time to think about it this past year. I'm not leaving. Ever again." The women in his team smiled. Owen tried to bite his lip to suppress the happiness he would probably never admit, not even at his deathbed. Ianto simply gazed at the captain. Jack looked over too and gave a smile.

"Long day ahead of us tomorrow," the captain exhaled. "Go get some rest."

Reluctantly, the four of them gathered their belongings. Slowly, they headed out of the cog door and out the Tourist Office Building.


	7. Building Bridges

Jack sighed and pounded his desk at all the paperwork he had. At least he wouldn't have a bleeding Prime Minister get on his back about Cardiff's rare disturbances for a while. He was even happier that it wouldn't be bloody Harold Saxon.

He had just sent his team home for a long, overdue rest but he'd forgotten to get Ianto to make him a coffee before he left. Jack couldn't sleep at all. No use to even attempt to, but some caffeine would be nice to get him through the Welsh night.

Jack reached into his pocket for a pen before realizing that it probably wouldn't be in there in the first place. His hand hit something metal. Curious, he pulled out a piece of thing twine tied onto a key. The TARDIS key. Funny. Jack was pretty sure he'd lost it.

The door to his office opened and Jack immediately set down the key on his desk. "Ianto!" he exclaimed. "I thought I told you to go home."

Ianto set down a cup of coffee down on the captain's desk. "Made you coffee," the archivist said. "Know how you're like under stress."

Jack laughed a bit. "How are you Ianto?" he asked.

"Still a little shaken, but better. Thank you for asking sir."

"Could we drop the sir?" Jack suggested. "Everyone else just calls me Jack."

"I'm not everyone else sir."

"No you're not," Jack muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me sir?"

"Nothing," Jack quickly, covering up the slip of his tongue. "Nothing."

"Well… Good night sir." With that Ianto took his leave. He was just about to push open the door when Jack cut him off.

"Ianto, did you miss me?"

"We all did sir," he said, turning around.

"I know, but what about you?"

"Uh…" Ianto seemed a bit uncomfortable with the subject.

"Never mind," Jack said, sensing the man's uneasiness, and returned to his paperwork.

"However, sir," Ianto began again. "If you don't mind, I think you're a lot like the Doctor."

That caught Jack's attention. "How so?"

"You're lonely all the time. Or at least, that's the way you act. That's how the Doctor acts too, even though he had his companions. And that way he acts. Merciful almost. I mean… you do go in guns blazing all the time, but you give them a choice, like the Doctor. You just don't go in and shoot them dead. The Doctor doesn't do that either. But it looks like… It looks like the only reason he holds back is because someone's there to do that for him. Like you, sir. Someone needs to be there for you to hold you back."

Jack raised his eyebrows and stood up from his desk, the chair swirling a bit. "Really?" he asked. Ianto nodded as his boss started to walk towards him. "You still haven't answered my question," Jack pointed out. "Did you miss me?"

"Very much so sir."

"Sir?"

"I mean… Jack."

"How much?"

"A lot?"

"How much is a lot?" Jack was standing face to face with Ianto now.

"Um…" Jack looked at Ianto expectantly. "Do you always have to smell like that?" Ianto asked, changing the subject.

"51st century pheromones," Jack said, echoing what he'd told Ianto when they had first met. "Why? And you're changing the subject. Does it matter how I smell?"

"Yes." Jack went wide-eyed. "I, uh… kind of like it."

"Really?"

"Sure…" Ianto trailed off, avoiding Jack's gaze.

Jack gave a short laugh and patted Ianto on the back. "Well, get some sleep. Don't want my coffee tasting any different tomorrow." The immortal captain sat back down in his chair as Ianto pushed open the door.

Ianto turned around for a final time and said, "I thought my heart was going to break," before leaving Jack with wide eyes and a lingering smile. The captain couldn't believe he'd just fallen for Ianto Jones.


	8. Start All Over

Tosh, Owen and Ianto came in early the next day, fully knowing that Jack would chew them out for not resting the full time. Instead, they found Jack with his head on his desk and papers piled high around him. Tosh smiled as Owen scowled on waking up early for nothing. Ianto quickly went to the coffee machine and everyone began their routine work.

Jack woke up to the sound of Tosh and Owen's whispers. Groggily, he rubbed his eyes and tried to fix his hair. "Morning," he yawned, leaning against the doorway.

"Morning," Tosh said back.

"Did I ever say you work to hard?"

"You're welcome," Owen muttered sarcastically.

"Ianto's here too," Tosh told her boss. "Making coffee. Gwen said she'd be in late. Wanted to spend some time with Rhys."

Jack nodded and let the two return to their work while he disappeared to the kitchen and Ianto's sacred coffee machine. "So…" Jack trailed off. His hands were in his pockets as he leaned on the wall. "Last night," he prompted. Immediately, he could see the coffee maker extraordinaire stiffen up. Jack let out a soft chuckle.

"I was thinking," the captain continued. "Movie, dinner… something like that."

"If you're just taking advantage of me…" Ianto began, taking out mugs.

"No!" Jack protested a little too sharply. Ianto turned around. "I mean…" Jack looked down and strolled towards Ianto. "That past year, I've been thinking about all of you. How you were doing without me but… I was thinking about you. How you were coping. 'Cause Gwen's got Rhys and Tosh… she and Gwen are friends and as cold-hearted as Owen can be, Gwen's sure to slap some sense into him. Then again, he's always got the pubs. But you… Who have you got?"

"I-" Ianto stuttered, not sure what to say.

Jack smiled and took the mugs from Ianto's hands, setting them on the counter. "You should really give Owen decaf, for buying Starbucks."

Ianto laughed, but immediately gained his composure. "Sir," he started, but earned a stern look from Jack. "I mean, _Jack_, I, uh…" Ianto bit his lip. "Bloody 51st century pheromones," he cursed softly.

Jack just laughed and pulled Ianto in for a surprise kiss. "Was that a yes?" the captain asked.


	9. AUTHOR'S NOTE SEQUEL

Sequel is now posted! It's called "Remember My Name." Just another basic Torchwood adventure, but centers around Jack's past. Jack/Ianto with some Gwen/Rhys and implied Owen/Tosh.


End file.
